Buddhist Art from the Roof of the World

University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive presents an exhibition of Buddhist art from Nepal and Tibet.

Artists from India, Tibet, and Nepal have for centuries created sculptures and paintings as a window into a divine Buddhist reality. Buddhist Art from the Roof of the World explores the spiritual meaning of over thirty exceptional works, highlighting their role within the Buddhist doctrine. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a rare fourteenth-century monumental gilt-bronze Buddha from Tibet seated in the posture of meditation; with the right hand touching the earth, the sculpture manifests the moment of enlightenment. Other sculptures and paintings from the region depict a multitude of sublime deities, some fierce and others calming, but all intended to lead the viewer closer to perfect knowledge of the universe through the teachings of wisdom and compassion.